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Roman Fever |
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written
by julia625 / 09.18.2005 |
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Assignment |
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It’s fairly common knowledge that women can be catty, spiteful, and just plain mean. What is far less well known is that men are capable of plotting and scheming just as maliciously as women are. While the women’s malice is fairy obvious in the novel Roman Fever, by Edith Wharton, to see the men’s one must look further into the story at the location of the story; the actual Roman Forum.
The Roman Forum represents the best and worst of Rome. One would be hard pressed to find beauty exceeding that of the ancient buildings filling the forum. On the other hand, almost the entire forum was built in a web of deception, corruption and selfishness. Everything, from the men who walked in the forum to the actual buildings, is a product of self-interest. The beautiful temples built for the people were actually built to acquire the favor of the populous of Rome, not as a present to the city. Disguised in each touching story of the creation of a monument is concealed a story of dishonesty. The forum represents corruption at its absolute worst.
A common vein runs through the story Roman Fever. Both women in the story, despite their lengthy friendship, ultimately seek total power in the relationship, making the forum a very appropriate place to set this story. You could almost take the two women in the story, Alida Slade and Grace Ansley, rename them Caesar and Brutus, and be retelling the story of the struggle in ancient Rome for power since the dawn of the city. The two characters maintain some sort of a surface friendship while each secretly hides some ulterior motive. Although each believes that they have most of the power in the relationship, they are both aware that neither has all of it. Eventually, one gets greedy and plays their cards against the other (something along the lines of attempted murder or revealing a deadly secret). At this point, the other either lies down and dies, literally, or brings out their own set of tricks, triumphing over their new enemy. Either way, all players are addicted to power and each seeks have total power over the other, no matter the cost. Everyone involved is willing to risk everything in order to have a chance and absolute power.
Like the forum, the relationship between the two women is twisted and complex. What seems at first glance a caring, childhood friendship is really the façade mounted on an ugly past. The two women are so desperate to have power over the other that they are willing to destroy their friendship in order to attain it. Edith Wharton chose the Forum as the setting for this story because the theme of a destructive need for power at any price present in her story also characterized the creation of the Roman Forum.
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